Amazon Looks to Gauge the Political Pulse with "Red & Blue" Book Map

If you want to get a look into the political pulse of the country based on political book purchases, Amazon's got you covered. Today, they've unveiled the Amazon Election Heat Map 2012, an interactive map that allows you to see exactly what the country is reading on a state-by-state basis.

At the top of the map, there's an all-encompassing breakdown that shows the split between "red" and "blue" books that have been purchased in the last 30 days. As of today, 56% of the political books purchased swing conservative. As you may expect, Mississippi shows the deepest red slant, at 72% to 28%. Washinton D.C. shows the deepest blue slant, at 78% to 22%.

If no red or blue majority exists, a state will show up beige (as is the case with Pennsylvania).

You can click on any state to see a specific breakdown of the book purchases, which will give you a percentage split as well as the top five book from each category:

Although red it currently beating blue, when it comes to the Presidential Candidates, President Obama's The Audacity of Hope is beating Mitt Romney's No Apologies by a 64% to 36% margin.

“Book sales by geography always have interesting things to say about our states, and an election season is a particularly good time to use this data to help customers follow the changing political conversation across the country,” said Chris Schluep, Senior Editor, Amazon.com Books.

Amazon notes that this heat map doesn't directly correlate to political leanings. "Book purchases may reflect curiosity as much as commitment," they say. Still, it's a nice way to see what kinds of philosophies have piqued the nation's interest in the months leading up to the election.